Phoenix of the West
by Pat Squared
Summary: At 8, Fire Nation Princess Li Ling was left for dead. Ten years later, the Phoenix of the West rises from the ashes for vengence. Can there be room in one body for a wraith and a young woman? Reincarnation Fict.
1. Entering the Forbidden World

**Phoenix**** of the West **

**Entering the Forbidden World **

**By Pat Squared **

**

* * *

**

Thank you to all in advance for those who will feed my muse.

To those who are new,

If you like it,

If you hate it,

Please write a review,

And tell all your fellow friends

At you think

* * *

Rated: Mature LATER CHAPTERS due to graphic violence and explicit sexual references! Kids sorry, you got to go someplace else.

This is a reincarnation fiction set in my version of the Avatar Universe. Enjoy.

* * *

322 Years after the Death of Jian Li

323 years after the Defeat of Ozai the Mad

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One by one, the palace guards opened each one of the nine sacred gates leading into the heart of the Earth Kingdom Empire.

Most of the residents of the enormous compound were born males, but the dictates of tradition had necessitated the removal of their ability to sire life. The guards stationed on the outer walls and courtyards could enjoy the pleasures of the bed chamber, yet the guards of the inner place and harem could not.

For the past three centuries, the rulers of the Earth Kingdom were fearful of having their blood and the blood of their subjects polluted by the demonic inhabitants of the outer world. They has imprisoned their ladies so they would not have to witness the obsenity of seeing one of their pure blood ladies carrying an impure half-human half-demon. The worse insult was to call one a mixed-blood or a demon-blood.

Outside the walled borders of the empire were the lands of the damned. Lands which it was believe that the _oni_ mated with any woman to produce the half-human half-demon monsters who threated mankind, the pure children of the earth, by their very ability to sire demonic offspring.

Yet, the palace guards were letting one of those demons into their center of purity.

In this xenophobic land, a _jingai_, an outsider, a barbaric demon was boldly walking in the seat of power. The _jingai's_ reddish-brown hair and golden eyes marked it as the worst of the demons that inhibited the impure lands surrounding the Empire – a Fire Bender, a child of the _oni_ (demons from the underworld). Yet the guards bowed to her as if she was royalty.

This _jingai_ merely walked followed by a procession of eunuchs carrying several black polished cases. The oni's face was covered by a sheer veil, enough to comply with the laws of this land, but violating the spirit of the centuries old traditions. Her face was seductive and many of the guards knew they would be tormented by visions of her succubi seducing their souls. Not even their unmanning tamed her powers.

Likewise, her clothing was revealing, and the twin swords on her side marked her as a warrior, a position denied by the gods to the women of this land.

The courtyards were expansive, mimicking the expanse of the lands the Earth Kingdom claimed. Everything was made to dwarf the human and glorify the empire.

The _jingai_ merely smiled behind the mass as the others behind her _kow tao_ every 99 paces. They fell flat on their faces and bashed their faces into the hard stone, hwile brawling they were not worthy to approach the son of heaven.

The young lady did not bother with such nonsense, but merely strode forward with a most unladylike stride. She could see the hate and fear, envy and lust, desire and disgust in the eyes of the guards. _How dare a female track down and kill a male? How dare a fire bender be allowed to contaminate the lands of the pure? How dare a demon be allowed to see the face of the emperor?_

However, due to her skill in tracking down fugitives and her willingness to lay down her honor for bright gold and priceless treasures, this _jingai_ was effectively outside the law and only the emperor had the power to judge her.

"Mistress Xiao, please surrender your blade."

The _jingai_ merely pushed the eunuch aside and summon forth a small handful of flame.

"I am always armed by the blessing of Agni," she cooed most softly as the old eunuch heard the name of the most terrible demons of the lands beyond and shudder in fear.

It was the fire demons that destroyed the great unified Earth Kingdom three centuries ago. It was the fire demons that seduced their cousins in the West until the Western part of the Earth Kingdom became defiled. Within a century, there were no more pure blooded children of earth, but only the human-demon hybrid who turned on their pure blooded cousins.

"Your master order that I personally guard this cargo until I personally deliver it into his hands. Do you, not even a man – let alone a warrior, dare to contradict your lord's, god's, or whatever's wishes?"

"But..."

"No but's or if's, man who is missing his little brother. I am Xiao Xaio, the sorrow that rises with the morning sun. Anyone, be it man, god, or _oni_ who interferes shall have its stuffed head mounted in my trophy room in hell, a slow death, and a quick ride to _Yuanlao's_ kingdom (hell) where they shall be turned into females, and forced to be defiled by my demonic sire and bear his offspring."

The Earth Kingdom subjects were superticious and feared the contaimination of their purity. The jingai only had to repeat the superticious whispers she heard from the peasants to bring fear into the hearts of the powerful.

"Know well, Eunuch Tenaka, that I have already marked your soul. Should you offend me once more, I shall send your soul to my sire."

The doors were quickly opened and Xiao Xaio could see the emperor standing alone at the end of a ninety nine pace throne room.

"Mistress Xiao, advance twenty paces and have a drink with the Son of Heaven, Jade Emperor Kaminoyama Masato (Correct Man of Divine Mountain), Overlord of all pure lands and destroyers of the impure lands beyond."

It was tea, a drink that this _jingai_ hated above all others.

Yet the slim lady put the cup to her lips and drank down the tea in a single gulp. She looked up that the scion of the Kaminoyama clan, the first to sit upon the dais since he wrested it away from his predecessor.

"Emperor Kaminoyama, behold the first of my gifts – the bloodstained robe and sword of the rebel Itou who conspired to assassinate you five years ago. He tried to commit seppuku when I defeated him, but I did not let him have that honor. His death took fourteen days as he swung in a exposure cage."

The emperor looked on as a eunuch rushed up with the box and opened it for his viewing.

Masato looked inside and nodded, "It is a fair gift, but there were four more assassins that escape justice."

The emperor whispered to the eunuch would announced, "Mistress Xiao will advance ten more paces."

Xiao did so.

"Mistress Xaio, my informants told me how you challenged and defeated the traitor and his bodyguards. However, I want to hear it from your own lips as when a story is retold inaccuracies creep in."

Xiao Xiao remembered the stories that her mother one told her about the Dragon and the people they blessed with the power to bend. As an earth bender the emperor owned his loyalty to the Dragon of the Mountains. As a fire bender, she owed her loyalty to the Dragon of the Flames.

_The Dragon of the Mountains is the most strong-willed Dragon. He is inflexible, unbending and combative. He gives little regard to the feelings of others. This ruthlessness can result in a rapid rise to a position of authority, but often at the cost of destroying important relationships. It is futile to attempt to convince him that certain things are simply undoable. He will go it alone if he can't gain support. He succeeds because he refuses to accept failure. _

_The Fire Dragon is the most competitive Dragon. He tends to push too hard and expects a lot from everyone. His criticisms are objective and he has the ability to arouse massive popular support. His insatiable ambition can make him short-tempered and intolerant. He is an empire builder who needs to master his less favorable traits and learn how to communicate more humbly with people as individuals. _

The fire bender smiled. If the Emperor wanted a tale, she would spin him one worthy of the legendary bards, Storyteller Li and his apprentice Ty Lee the Nightingale.

"Recall the third line of the warrior's sutra – Do not acquire that from which you can not walk away in a heartbeat. Greed was the downfall of Itou the rebel..."

As Mistress Xiao told the emperor how she tracked down and destroyed the rebel, the fire bender thought of her own story and how she came to be in this place, and of what she must do.


	2. Don't Let Her Out of Your Sight

**Phoenix**** of the West **

**"Don't Let Her Out of Your Sight" **

**By Pat Squared **

**

* * *

**

Thank you to all in advance for those who will feed my muse.

To those who are new,

If you like it,

If you hate it,

Please write a review,

And tell all your fellow friends

What you think!

* * *

Rated: Mature LATER CHAPTERS due to graphic violence and explicit sexual references! Kids sorry, you got to go someplace else. 

This is a reincarnation fiction set in my version of the Avatar Universe. Enjoy.

* * *

312 Years after the Death of Jian Li 

313 years after the Defeat of Ozai the Mad

* * *

Eight year old Li Ling was always a very precocious and head strong child. 

According to her father, she was every bit her mother's daughter with additional excessive interest when it came to having a fiery temper. Her reddish-brown hair and golden eyes announced to the world that she was a fire bender with the ability to maintain a temper that was unique in the known universe.

Yet unlike her mother, Li Ling would not immediately lash out, but wait for an opportune moment to unleash her temper on her unsuspecting victims. This is why she was standing in the cab of the locomotive, instead of gossiping with her agemates.

Li Ling stared at the rising cloud of vapor as the engineer opened the valve to release the superheated steam from the boilers into the pistons of the locomotive. The fire tender and the engineer's apprentice tossed in two more shovelful of purified coal into the burning inferno. The big brass bell was clanging and the engineer let out nine blasts of steam out of the steam powered whistle to summon the dragon's good fortune on this journey.

Li Ling was not supposed to be up here in the cab of the steam locomotive. She was supposed to be with the other carefully selected female companions of her station to preen and act like one of those spoiled fairy tale princesses. The young girl hated the concept of station. To Li Ling, a station was the place where the trains stopped to pick up more fuel, water, cargo, and passengers.

Li Ling could care less about following proper decorum.

Unlike her older sister, Ming, Li Ling could care less about finding some noble brat or wonder what were the latest fashions to come out of the workshops of the Fire Nation's most talented dressmakers. She was interested in taking things apart and seeing how things worked. Li Ling's mother and sister would complain that she never outgrew the 'Why?' stage.

For Li Ling, being hidden out of site in a locomotive cab only fueled her urge to discover all the why's that make the steam beast work. However, the young girl resisted the urge to touch the gauges and levers. She knew that she was only a guest here and to touch the controls of a locomotive was an honor that she could only dream of one day earning. Not even a queen would dare touch a lever and defile the wondrous creation that whisked travelers all over the western world.

Li Ling smiled at the young engineer's apprentice who she talked into taking her here.

If the young girl had a choice of what to do with her life, she would willingly trade places with this young boy even if she had to single-handedly bend the flames and use up her own _qi _to keep the boiler pumping steam to travel around the world. There was something magical about steam and the new 4-8-2's steam engines could travel in an hour what once took a day on a fast horse.

The boy's face was dirty from the grime that normally collected around the engine.

Li Ling could care less about grease and soot on her new dress. She was a tomboy and spent her time trying to dodge the numerous etiquette instructors who tried to _civilize_ her.

Li Ling could not see why. She did not burp at the table. She did not just grab anything that struck her fancy, but learned the ask and say the proper words of gratitude. She knew how to eat with chopsticks without dropping food on her clothing. More importantly to her, she had carefully the dirty fighting techniques of using them to strike an unsuspecting foe's weak spots. However, the last tutor who she demonstrated the trick upon erupted in fury.

Unfortunately Li Ling's parents heard the tutor's screams all the way in the Fire Nation thrown room. Her mother acted like it was the end of the world that Li Ling could think such shameful things that only an assassin would think off. Her father sent her to spend the rest of the day copying those ancient scrolls that lay in the old library shelves adjoining what was one Fire Lady's Azula's quarters. They complained that she was a princess, not some disgraceful assassin in training.

_Yet our nation's greatest hero, Jian Li, was a _disgraceful_ assassin and notorious womanizer. _

Li Ling had to copy some of those old scrolls using the old style of Fire Nation calligraphy. She hated the task of laboriously copying the old scrolls. Unlike the simplified modern script used today, there were old symbols that no one used for centuries and every symbol seemed to have many more strokes then its modern counterpart.

_Worst yet, was the messages contained in the old scrolls _

_A proper lady is meek and invisible. _

_A proper lady takes care of her husband and children without any though of reward. _

_A proper lady is grateful when her father selects any man to be her husband for she could have been only a mere concubine. _

_A proper lady walks to the left of and two steps behind her husband for she is her husband's property. _

_No wonder why Fire Lady Azula the Seer tried to repeatedly kill the Mad Fire Lord Ozai. He probably tried to marry her off and make her walk two steps behind an idiot husband._

Li Ling resisted the urge to throw up when she had to copy those lines from the old Fire Nation etiquette primer for girls. The rules only became more insane with every line.

_If anyone was stupid enough to attempt to enforce these old rules today, just about every wife would be dragging her husband into the Agni Kai arenas and making their men walk two steps behind them once they recover from being burnt by their angry wives._

Li Ling had to read her share of ancient Fire Nation history, but could not relate to being treated like some idiot merely because she was a girl.

The old tradition of foot binding girls was outlawed out five centuries ago and the old laws prohibiting women actively participating from public life died out during the Element War three centuries ago.

Li Ling's mother was the current Fire Lady in her own right and no one thought her weak because she wore a skirt. Her mother had fought in her youth and two Eastern Earth Kingdom admirals learned that even females could be master military strategists the hard way and paid with their lives. Li Ling's father was merely a prince consort who her mother seduced away from Kyoshii Island.

The women of the Fire Nation and other fire bending enclaves in the West were so independent that Eastern Earth Kingdom curse now went, "May you marry a Fire Bender woman!"

Like any sane person raised Fire Nation, Li Ling would never willingly _kow tao_, lay on the earth and bang her forehead on the earth eight or nine times, for anyone, not even a god – unlike the nobles of the Eastern Earth Kingdom who would have to _kow tao _to a used napkin just because their emperor blew some snot into it. Not even the poorest waif in the gutters of the Fire Nation would _kow tao_ for any amount of coin. Pride and face was second to only family loyalty in this place. Li Ling may have been only eight, but even she would not think twice about retaliating if someone outside her family insulted her.

And that was the crux of Li Ling's problems.

Princess Sedna, the daughter of the Southern Water Tribe's Ambassador to the Fire Nation and the granddaughter of the reigning chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe, was Li Ling's confidant and best friend for the past four years. Last month had played a joke on Li Ling. The water bender merely iced one of the steps and ensured that Li Ling would slide down the stairs and into one of the senior servants during a state dinner. Li Ling had not only lost face in public, she was sent to her room without supper and force to copy those old scrolls for a month. The only consolation prize was that Li Ling had found a pair of swords and an old _oni_ mask behind some scroll and claimed them as her own. However, those items did not put Li Ling one up on Sedna.

Being tricked was bad. Worse, was losing face in front of her older siblings and her parents. Worst of all, Sedna had managed to pull it off without getting caught!

It was a game that the old two friends played. Get the other in trouble without getting caught. Sedna was tied and Li Ling would be damned if she let Sedna believe that she could get away with this prank and actually pull ahead of Li Ling.

Li Ling had her prank planed. It was simple, but effective.

In the Fire Nation, there is a traditional game of Hot Foot played by children and some young adults. Heat the earth or the soles of the opponent's foot until they yelp in pain. To play you had to be a fire bender and you had to be good at heating your opponent's foot while preventing your opponent from heating your foot. With good fire benders the game has lasted as long as two days. Li Ling had to set things up so that Sedna got the soles her feet burn and put the blame on someone else.

Stage One – Set up the mark. There were always dances and princesses were expected to dance. Li Ling would ensure that Sedna got to break in a new pair of dance shoes and that would explain away the blisters to an adult. Li Ling would help the process by slowly heating Sedna's feet.

Stage Two – Burn the soles of Sedna's feet until she cries about some blisters.

Stage Three – Make sure there is no fresh water around so Sedna can't just heal herself and had to endure some pain for a while. It was stage three that Li Ling was setting up. She had to ensure that the water tanks would not work properly. It would mean that the water closets and lavatories' were not working, but Li Ling would make any sacrifice to win. Li Ling would win the unspoken contest and the price was just a kiss.

Li Ling motioned the boy over once the locomotive got moving.

"Thank you. Remember our deal."

Luck Boy nodded. Li Ling hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. If one of the chaperones spotted her, let's say Agni would be lucky to find one non-bruised part of her flesh when her mother was done with her. The only archaic remnants of the old Fire Nation were the Agni Kai and the liberal use of the lash upon a certain erring princess.

_Lucky Boy will be forever able to truthfully brag that he once kissed a princess. Too bad no one will believe him._

Li Ling flipped a golden talon, five days wages to the engineer and another to the fire tender.

_Besides, Lucky Boy is kind of cute and smart, unlike the nose pickers at the dance._

All it cost was to give some lucky boy a couple of kisses. It was not the first time she traded a kiss for a favor, nor would it ever be the last.

As a little girl, Li Ling perfected on her father and older brother, Crown Prince Iroh. No mortal man had a chance of saying no to her once she delivered a will-sapping butterfly-kiss and the sad, puppy dog eyes. Now if only her mother and chaperones were not immune. It did not work on certain females.

To get even, Li Ling had pick-pocketed one of her chaperones to get the _flying money_ (paper bill) to bribe the other staff on the train. It was fair for after all everyone down to the rat catchers in the Fire Nation palace knew to never let Li Ling out of their sight. The chaperone turned his back on her and he was one wallet and forty-nine gold talons lighter in the pocket – Well, forty-nine gold talons lighter as she knew from prior experience not to hang unto the evidence of one's crimes. She left the wallet on the seat, just like it came out when he was sitting.

Li Ling smiled over the small victory. She wouldn't be hurting for spending money for a while. Things like that just came naturally to Li Ling, like she was a thief in one of her past lives. Because of her trickery, she was being fostered to some distance cousin in the Outcast Clans for the next year meant that she would have a new round of marks against which to practice her skills.

Li Ling smiled and kissed the boy once more. From the smile on his face, she knew that she had successfully mush the boy's brain into something as intelligence as bean curd. He would never tell as he hoped for a third and forth sometime down the line.

Li Ling snuck back to her changing room just in time to change for the tea ceremony. Ever since she was small, she hated the damn drink. Being born two-months premature meant that there were healers were always forcing the damn stuff down her throat claiming that it would build up her strength. Even eight, almost nine years later, there would be a healer stationed nearby to ensure that there was herbal teas on hand just in case she had an attack of the lung flux. It did not matter if she went three and a half years since the last attack of the lung flux, her mother was overprotective.

Li Ling smiled for soon there would be no more water and thus no more tea being forced down her throat. For that she would willing go without a bath for two days.

One last, tea torture session, and she would suffer no more for the duration of the train trip.


	3. Punishment

**Phoenix**** of the West **

**Punishment **

**By Pat Squared **

**

* * *

**

Thank you to all in advance for those who will feed my muse.

To those who are new,

If you like it,

If you hate it,

Please write a review,

And tell all your fellow friends

What you think!

* * *

Rated: Mature LATER CHAPTERS due to graphic violence and explicit sexual references! Kids sorry, you got to go someplace else.

This is a reincarnation fiction set in my version of the Avatar Universe. Enjoy.

* * *

312 Years after the Death of Jian Li

313 years after the Defeat of Ozai the Mad

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Whack!

Sedna looked on as Madam Wren, Ling's chaperone, struck the young princess with a ridding crop. Whipping was unknown in the Southern Water Tribes. However, the lash seemed to be a time honored tradition in the Fire Nation.

"Twelve."

Whack!

Li Ling tried to suppress a whimper, but no amount of pride could give the Fire Nation princess the ability to ignore the pain.

"Thirteen."

Whack!

Li Ling finally whimpered. Sedna knew that Li Ling was hurt more by the fact that she whimpered than the physical pain of the beating. The nurse threw in more and more effort with every blow. Sedna remembered getting swatted on the bottom once by her father for talking back to her mother, but she had never experienced the pain that Li Ling was now suffering.

_Yet, tonight you will be planning some other outrage. _

"Fourteen."

Sedna knew that this would not be the last time that whip will be used on the fiery tempered Fire Nation princess. Sedna could see the welts all ready developing on Li Ling's back.

Whack!

Sedna watched as the crop finally cut into the pale skin of the young girl. The water bender's eyes followed as a drop of blood oozed out of the cut and lead the way for more blood.

"Fifteen."

Whack!

_There was only supposed to be fifteen blows. Only fifteen._

"That was for defying me in public and calling me a fat rhino cow!"

Whack!

"That was for making me look like a fool."

Whack!

"No one makes me look like one of those dumb Eastern Earth Kingdom ladies."

Whack!

"Not even you. Your mother gave me the right to determine when and how you should be punished. She gave me the right to determine, how long you are to stay at your cousins for education. I will use all my power to break you, your highness."

Whack!

The look in the eye of the nurse scared the daughter of the Southern Water Tribe ambassador. Both the nurse and Li Ling hated one another and there was no hiding the fact. Both nurse and child would not quit until they have broken the spirit of their foe. Sedna knew that neither would give up the contest of wills and that this would not be the last time that Li Ling would be whipped until blood was drawn.

"That is enough for now. Should you even look at me funny, your highness, I will give you twenty more and I won't feel any urge to restrain myself."

Li Ling kissed the whip and asked for more physical punishment as was the custom. Unlike the other who disciplined the Fire Nation princess, the nurse actually accepted and delivered three more quick blows.

"Lady Sedna, please take our erring princess to her cabin. She won't be dining with us civilized folks tonight."

Sedna hated the nurse that was assigned to discipline her best friend. In the end the nurse was actually enjoying inflicting like a glutton enjoyed candies. Sedna wanted to do something, but what could she do. She was only a child and thus invisible to adults. It was not the first time that she had to watch Li Ling kiss the whip and ask for more pain. The nurse, the look in the eye, reminded her of the look in the eyes of the black and white whale that hunted the seals in the water of her homeland. They were cruel and intelligent, deriving as much pleasure from the deliberate infliction of pain as from consuming the flesh of their prey.

"Don't say a word," commanded Sedna's best friend, "Don't even try to bring me some diner tonight. I will die before I give that bloated, waddling rhino cow the satisfaction."

Sedna's father told Sedna the tale of how the legendary Blue Spirit Jian Li would fight, fail, and then pick his dying body up and rush back into battle. Sedna could not believe that someone would do such a thing. Now she knew. Li Ling had something inside of her that would never let her quit. Li Ling would not surrender, but endure the pain until she defeated her enemy.

"Please Ling, you don't have to..."

"Sedna, I have to. It's in my blood. I was born to never quit. I will win in the end."

Sedna knew that this would be a long year – A very long, painful year for both the girls. She saw the look in her best friend's eye. The water bender knew that Li Ling was planning another salvo in the war between child and nurse.


	4. Watcher from the Shadows

**Phoenix of the West**

**Watcher from the Shadows**

**By Pat Squared

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**

_Love it, Hate it,_

_Please Review it, _

_As it's no fun to share something with the world,_

_When no one says thank you!

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_

_Author's Note_

_Sorry for taking so long to update,_

_Any excuse I offer would merely be that,_

_Another excuse in a world already over polluted with excuses._

_So I will keep it simple,_

_Sorry…

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_

_Kaminoyama_ (Divine Mountain) _Masato_ (Correct Man) looked on in disgust from the grooves overlooking the town of _Kami no Tsuyu_ (God's Tears). Although the Outcast Clan had an official capital from which they polluted, defiled, and enslaved what was once the western lands of the former Earth Kingdoms, here was their true seat of power.

For over three centuries, the Li and the Chi families virtually ran the Outcast Clan and perhaps the western world from this town.

The Li's were an obscenity.

During the Element War, instead of casting out the impure demon-bloods as was his sacred duty, the fallen King Bumi recruited several among them to serve as his eyes and daggers. Storyteller Li, Li Mai, Li Zuzu, Li Tom Tom, Lijuan, and the worst of the lot Li Jian the Assassin, Blue Spirit, and Father of Three Dynasties all betrayed the true Earth Kingdom. The first five and their descendants were the daggers in the shadow that prevented the reunification of the Earth Kingdom. Due to Li Jian's wooing and subsequent impregnation of Fire Lady Azula the Blind Witch and Water Mistress Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, the Outcast Clan had the protection of the Western Ocean's Alliance. With marriages between the ruling families of the West, eventually the other semi-autonomous Earth Kingdom provinces all came into the Western Ocean's Alliance. In doing so, all the nations of the West lost their purity and became no more than mongrel dogs obeying the commands of the Fire Bender Cabal of the Li Family.

The Li's of both the Outcast Clans and the Fire Nation were master fire benders. Their cousins the Chi's were master earth benders on par with any in the lands of the pure despite their polluted blood. The Li distant cousins in the Water Tribes were powerful water benders. The Li's even had some distant blood connections to the air benders. To defeat the Western Ocean Alliance would require an understanding of all four elements and defeating them all.

Each element had a strength and weakness. Each one Masato mastered until the oracle prophesied that fate decreed that no man, no steel, and no element can kill him. The only thing that he had to fear was the return of the Broken One.

Fire could be summoned anywhere, anytime, but fire could not be held back in reserve. Fire consumed fuel and the manipulation of fire required the continuous use of _chi_. Fire benders would attack and attack until they ran out of _chi_ and only then were fire benders truly helpless.

Earth was Masato's native element. It was stable, strong, and firm. However earth can be surprisingly shifty and yielding. Earth benders would weather the attack and wait until the foe tires himself out before being crushed them. However, if one was not strong enough, the other elements would erode the strength of the rock causing it to shatter and heave.

Water was yielding, and yet over time can cause the highest mountain to collapse into the sea by undercutting its base and causing the enemy's own prowess to be that enemy's greatest weakness. They were masters as turning ones one's own energy against them.

Air was evasive. Air would evade until one was too tired to fight on, leaving the other three elements to crush, drown, or burn you dead.

Even today with the advance technology employed by the Western Alliance, the overall strategy remained the same. Instead of pikes and arrows, were guns and cannon. Instead of lances were pistols and scatterguns. Instead of war elephants were tanks. Instead of wooden warships with achaic catapults were metal dreadnoughts firing explosive shells. Instead of muscle and wind were fire and steam. However, no matter how the technology and tactics change, strategy and the influence that one's elemental orientation had upon it, never changed.

For three centuries, the True Earth Kingdom had to watch as the impure grew in power and wealth. For three centuries, the True Earth Kingdom, had to wait behind the walls staving off the demons that repeatedly sank the True Earth Kingdom merchant and naval fleets and nibbled off provinces one by one with every disastrous campaign. For three centuries, the Emperors of the True Earth Kingdom tried in vain to reclaim the sacred lands of the Earth Kingdom, but every time failed losing more of its prestige and power. For three centuries, the True Earth Kingdom waited for a Warrior-King who knew first hand all four elements.

Now Kaminoyama Masato was the living embodiment of three centuries of hope. He was the avatar reincarnated and he was going to make the world as it should be. He was going to drive out the impure out of the ancestral lands of the Earth Kingdom. He was going to enslave the haughty fire benders who should have been wiped out root and branch. He was going to make the Water Tribes his vassals.

Below, Masato spotted a young demon with the markings of the fire demons and another with the feature of the water demons. Fire and water were supposed to be rival elements. They were supposed to get along like predator and prey. Yet these two were talking and playing like they were the best of friends. Worse, they were females, alone, unattended. Females of the True Earth Kingdom were locked up to prevent defilement by the impure. Those that bore any impure were killed and their impure offspring were killed also to prevent the spread of the demonic infection that had already destroyed the purity of the Western nations. Only courtesans and those females that took holy orders were allowed to travel without a male escort. Only sluts risked their purity like this two did. Maybe soon, he would teach them a lesion why females had to be kept locked up for their own good.

It was an obscenity.

The scene below was an example of how the fire benders enslaved the other benders to be their vassals. It would not surprise him if the Li's were merely vassals of that Fire Witch Li Hua, the current Fire Lady of the Fire Nation. The Li's of the Outcast Clan and the Li dynasty of the Fire Nation had intermarried enough times to not know where one ended or the other began. It was that was for just about every family in the western lands of the True Earth Kingdom. The Fong's were cousins to the Ming's. The Suzuki's were cousins to the Xing's. The Sato's were cousins to the Luo's. The Abe's were cousins to the Wang's. The list of the contamination of one pure earth bending families goes on.

Before the Elemental War, Fire Nation merchants sold their wares and fathered numerous bastards upon pure earth bending families in the West. It had to be deliberate. They had to plan to weaken the loyalties of the western lands of the western lands of Earth Kingdoms, so to make invasion easier. It was the only way that the Fire Nation could be so successful in its early campaigns.

Tonight was the night that Prince Kaminoyama Masato of the True Earth Kingdom will pay back the traitorous mixed bloods for their mother's sin of spreading their legs to the fire demons and bearing more fire demons. Tonight, he was going to start purifying the lands of his ancestors. Tonight, he was going to strike a blow to the eyes of the Western Alliance. Tonight he was going to reverse the ties of generations of disastrous campaigns and reunify the world under the domination of Earth. Some demons he will enslave to serve the pureblooded earth benders. Others he will kill quickly. Some, like that fire demon wench below, he will send off to hell in the most painful manner possible.

"Tonight, we kill all the fire demons slowly. That one I will kill myself. When we are done, the Fire Benders will be no more. We will kill them all, man, woman, and child."

Kaminoyama Masato pointed to the small demon. His intelligence officer had obtained all the identities of all the residents and everyone knew who would die and who would merely become slaves to the reemerging True Earth Kingdom.

Below in the valley was Fire Nation Princess Li Ling, age nine. She was reported to be spirited and reputed to be a fire bender like her mother. Tonight, he was going to make her call him master. When he was done breaking her, he planed on sending her tortured corpse to her mother along with the declaration of war. Tonight would be the start of the Purification War. It would take his lifetime to set things right, but soon the world will be ruled by Earth and the fire benders, naught but ghosts wailing in their mass graves.


	5. Innocence Lost

**Phoenix**** of the West **

**Innocence Lost **

**By Pat Squared **

* * *

**Warning**:

Graphic depiction of violence.

Those with weak stomachs and

those under 17 should not read this.

The author does not condone this behavior,

and neither does the law.

Those who perform such act will be

hunted down and killed by their fellow inmates.

* * *

Li Ling had a secret that she kept from everybody.

She was afraid of the dark.

Fire benders were instinctively apprehensive about the dark. When the sun went down their powers diminished. Fearing the darkness, the ancient fire benders created numerous legends of creatures the live in the darkness waiting to eat human flesh. As a little girl, Li Ling listened to her older siblings swap tails about the _oni_, _vampires_, the _hungry ghosts,_ and a myriad of other creatures that bump around in the dark. So intertwined with the culture that the Fire Nation created elaborate rituals and built their home so as to foil the foul creature's plans to consume the living.

Every night after, Li Ling heard Senda's soft breathing; the Fire Nation princess religiously performed the ancient rituals. Setting out bowls of water, keeping a lamp ready, hanging a spirit trap, laying out some banknotes of hell to bribe desperate spirits, and softly chanting the ancient incantations to drive away the foul spirits were all parts of her nightly ritual. In the morning, Li Ling would wake up just before the sunrise and hide the evidence of her fears before Sedna could find out.

Unless you were a little fire bender who grew up in the Fire Nation, no one could understand the importance of these rituals. To outsiders, it would look ridiculous. No matter what their station, the people of the Fire Nation held unto their pride and would do anything to prevent the lost of face...anything... save forgo these nightly rituals that were kept a secret from all those who could not bend fire.

* * *

Eastern Earth Kingdom Crown Prince Kaminoyama Masato and his men had snuck into Tsuyu no Kami. It was not that hard. Tsuyu no Kami was deep in the land held by the Outcast Clans. Unlike the borderlands, the town was not fortified. One by one, his crack team eliminated the few town's watchmen and made their way to their assigned posts to await Kaminoyama's signal.

Masato lead his men to the prize. In the center of town are the ancestral homes of the Chi and Li families. No matter who was elected to serve in the Council or was appointed to serve as the Clan Master of the Outcast Clan, it was the Chi's and Li's that dictated the policies of the Outcast clan. The Chi's ran the domestic affairs and economy via strategic marriages and kinship arrangements with the Abe's, Fong's, Sato's, and Suzuki's. The five families controlled three quarters of the commerce and virtually all of the industries of the Outcast Clan. The Li's handled international affairs and perhaps the world's best intelligence service. Thanks to the notorious assassin Jian Li's bedding of two royal princesses and later the intermarriages between the royal families of the West, to conquer the Outcast Clan meant you had to fight the entire West.

A hundred years ago, a prophet predicted his coming...predicted his ascendancy over the mongrel peoples of the West. Every true blooded Earth Kingdom woman from the time she first bled was tasked to breed so that he would have an army large enough to take on the West.

Tonight, the hopes and dreams of his people were going to come to furision.

Tonight, he was going to chop off the head of the rebellion that deprived his nation of its western provinces. After the Outcast Clan, he would march on Chen and Kyoshii and decimate their population for betraying their ancient oaths of loyal to the Earth Kingdom. He would enslave the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads. One by one he was going to cut of the fire benders from their subject peoples. The he would annihilate the Fire Nation. Not a single life shall be spared. Every demon shall be slain no matter what form it took. Old man or an infant girl...all those of the Fire Nation shall be no more.

Fire...there was one fire the Fire Nation could not bend. He would walk up to the gate of the Fire Nation palace, personally slay the bitch that ruled those dogs, and sink the home islands of the Fire Nation into the waves.

His men waited. He gave the signal.

* * *

Li Ling was finishing up the ancient ritual when the shutters were broken in.

Two figures in _oni_ masks burst in the room. One pulled out a hammer. The other a throwing dagger and threw it at her.

Li Ling avoided the thrown dagger, not deliberately, but by tripping over her feet. Rolling out the way, the Fire Nation Princess instinctively summoned the flame and threw it in the direction of the intruders.

"Sedna, wake up!"

Li Ling threw another flame.

Like other children, Li Ling was not blessed with a great deal of _qi_, or at least the _qi_ one could tap into to make fire. She knew that she had to defeat her attackers fast. However, three years of training kicked in. Like the element itself, a fire benders martial art was about the attack. Fire was not defensive.

If she lived through this, Li Ling would never try to ditch her fire bending lessons ever again.

Li Ling went berserk and attacked the nearest assassin.

The assassin did not expect the behavior and was stunned that a little girl was actually attacking a full grown adult. It was the last mistake of his life as in her fright, she let loose a flame that burnt his face and traveled down into his lungs. The superheated gases destroyed his ability to breathe.

Sedna spotted the water bowls and summoned ice spikes. Distracted by the gruesome fate of his companion, the second assassin found himself with a dagger-sized ice shard in his neck. He fell to the ground bleeding to death.

Li Ling grabbed her friend and opened her hiding spot. It was not big enough for the two of them.

"Wait here. I need to get help."

Sedna for the first time in her life was truly afraid. She did not need prompting but dove into the hidey-hole.

Li Ling closed up the hole. There was a small crack through which Sedna could see.

Sedan heard a blow and felt something hard hit the floor.

"What do we do with the child, your highness?"

There was silence.

"You two, stand guard. We can't let anything happen to Princess Li Ling...yet. Strip her, bind her arms. She burned one of us and will pay for her crimes. The other one...ice knife to the throat. Check under the beds and in the closets. I want Princess Sedna alive if possible. I want her to understand she is lower than any Earth Kingdom brothel slave. I want her alive to tell that Fire Nation cow exactly what I did to her daughter. Both are to be untouched...for now."

"Yes your highness."

Sedna could see them drag the unconscious princess by her hair. Letting go, Li Ling's head hit the wooden floor and Sedna could see Li Ling's busted face. Li Ling eye was swollen and her nose was bleeding badly. Sedna bit her lip to avoid crying as Li Ling moaned.

_There is no rescue_.

One of the men checked under the beds, but he did not notice the eye looking at him through the crack.

* * *

It was sun up by the time the slaughter was finished.

The elderly and infirm were impaled. Any man of military age was stoned to death. Anyone know to be a bender was in the same manner. All the surviving boys were castrated and put in chains to be marched back to the True Earth Kingdom and sold as slaves.

The smell of smoke and burning flesh saturated the air.

Prince Kaminoyama Masato was not going to defile his parent element by burying traitors in the earth. Burning unfortunately was necessary. He hated it...not because of the stench, but because fire benders believed that it honors the dead and immediately admits the soul to the _yama_ (kings) of the underworld. However, soon loyal Earth Kingdom serfs would be transplanted her and would be farming this land and Kaminoyama did not desire a pestilence.

It was time to sort all the female prisoners.

His men were disciplined, not damaging the _merchandise_. His intelligence officer consulting drawing made by spies had already segregated the Chi's and Li's from the other females. The Chi's and Li's would have to die. Despite having some attractive flesh, the Chi's and Li's represented the old order, a focus for any resistance movement.

The others would be reeducated. Some would be used for labor until they died from exhaustion. Others would be used for pleasure until they were too old or scared up and then sent off to the labor camps. All these things ceased being members of the Outcast Clan and were now slaves to be used for the betterment of the True Earth Kingdom.

His men had fought a dangerous battle and defeated an enemy that had hounded the True Earth Kingdom for three centuries. Now it was time to let these slaves know their place.

"Hiro, make these vermin _kow tow_."

Izu Hiro was his second in command. The son of his father's chief bodyguard, Hiro was a loyal companion since childhood. Hiro protected Masato twice from assassins hired by his rival half brothers. Hiro slew half a dozen rivals for Masato's seat. Hiro was his sword brother. When Masato would ascend to his father's throne, Hiro and his sons would be the only intact men, not of the blood, to be allowed to reside in the Palace. Hiro was Masato's companion and lover.

Hiro gave out a command and the men immediately knocked the females face first into the earth.

"Have the Fire Nation brat brought to me. Hiro, except for the brat you get first pick of the virgins for your harem. Pick any two you desire. Kill the Chi's and Li's. And then let the men celebrate today. Break the spirit of the scum. If the merchandise dies...so be it, we can get more."

Now it was time to deliver a message that the Fire Nation would understand.

Li Ling was standing. Despite her obvious pain, she did not _kow tow_ or beg for mercy. Even in defeat, a fire bender never bows.

_Spirited, most in this situation would have resigned themselves to their fate._

Masato looked at the eight year old girl.

Women were supposed to be subservient, meek, and submissive to the men. It was the natural order of things. However, the Fire Nation, once known for binding the feet of their girls, was now ruled by women. Men groveled to her orders. This thing acted like she was the queen, standing in his presence.

This thing was now his to break.

He lashed out with his fist to her gut. She fell and lost her breath. However she staggered back up to her feet and spit blood at him.

"I bet you believe your mother will come with her fleet to save you. Don't worry, I will send you back to mommy...just as soon as I am done with you. You have the honor of being instructed by Crown Prince Kaminoyama Masato in manners and etiquette. First thing is that scum like you is supposed to _kow tow_ whenever one of my men is in your presence."

With the words kow tow, Masato performed a leg sweep on the little princess. He knelt and with his hand pin the princess' face to the earth.

"You will eat earth, little whore. You will eat earth knowing that scum such as you is not worthy of living on it. I will subjugate the ancestral lands of my nation. I will subjugate the Water Tribes. However, I will eradicate your nation off the map and turn your people into ghosts. You will live just long enough for you slut of a mother to get this message. I will personally come for her head."

Masato grabbed the child by the hair and took her inside to be broken.

* * *

The child woke up huddled in the corner of a darken room. Her body was covered in her filth and her insides were constantly in pain.

The gods had not heard her prayers. She did not ask for someone to save her; she did not rate that high. All she asked was for the gods to let her die.

A man had cuffed her on the side of the head to wake her up.

It had happened countless times before.

The man mounted her, hit her, sated his needs, and kicked her before walking away for the next one.

She had long since lost count of how many men did this to her. Day and nights were the same...more abuse.

She groveled as she was taught. She mouthed the words she was taught. She endured the beatings as she was taught. She wanted to defy them...maybe then one would get angry enough to beat her so bad that she would die.

She did not have a particular name. She was not allowed a name save for the pet names that the men gave her as they mounted her.

_Cunt...slut...whore...bitch...ass..._

The pet names rang through her head.

One she was once a girl. She knew that once she was happy. However, now all she remembered was being hurt over and over again. They said that she was proud and defiant. They had beaten and raped all the spirit and goodness that was within her. Everyday, the master would come in and make her say the words.

Another man came in and repeated the process. First there were a lot of them. Now they dribbled in. There was nothing left to take. There was no more hope to shatter.

Another one of the girls brought a bucket. No words were exchanged. No words could be exchanged for they removed the other girl's tongue. The mute girl waited for her to stand up and then poured the bucket on top of her. The girl then grabbed a bar of soap and a brush and scrubbed her. Afterwards, the other girl took her by the hand to another room upstairs.

Once in a while, a high ranking master would come and she would be expected to entertain him. Unlike most of her abusers, the high ranked one would insist that she be clean and perfumed. However the abuse would still be the same.

* * *

For a week, Sedna only came out of her hiding place in the middle of the night and only then to steal some food and get some water. She knew that she could not hide here forever. In the hiding place was Li Ling's stash. Sedna was use to the darkness and about to see the box.

Knowing that Li Ling was dead, Sedna opened the box. Inside were two swords, a mask, a wad of _flying money_ (paper bills), and the necklace Li Ling's mother gave her for her birthday.

Sedna was ashamed. Her best friend was killed trying to alert the others about the attack while Sedna cowered in the hidey hole. However she knew that if she went with Li Ling, nothing would change save for she too would be dead.

Sedna felt the vibrations of coming footsteps and peeked through the crack in the floor. Two girls, one leading the other by the hand entered the room. One huddled in the corner while the other one walked off.

Sedna examined the young girl. The body was covered with bruises and cuts, the hair was cut short. However it was the eyes that scared Sedna the most. They were empty as if the life was sucked out of them. Something very bad happened to this girl. Sedna vowed to kill herself before she would let herself fall into this state.

She felt another set of footsteps and grabbed on of the sword handles. It was one of the invaders. The child _kow tow. _Satisfied by the jester, the man commanded the girl to get into the bed. A set of clothing landed on the floor.

Since the girl climbed into the bed where Sedna use to sleep, Sedna could see the rape. The little girl was crying as the man put his thing inside of her. The man hit her and told her that she should act like all the other _horny cunts_.

Li Ling died to save her. Now it was Sedna's turn to help another soul in need. Sedna crawled out of the space with her sword.

With all her strength, she slashed at the man. The sword did it's job.

Sedna had a hard time trying to roll the body off of the girl. She knew that the man would be missed and that hiding in the hole was no longer an option.

Senda looked down at the sobbing girl. There was birthmark on her left thigh. It was Li Ling. However, this was not the same Li Ling that Senda knew. Sedna shushed Li Ling to be quiet. Senda took a pillow case and put everything she found inside the hidey-hole inside the pillow case save the swords. The swords, she slung over her shoulder. They had to disappear tonight. Tomorrow, the invaders would hunt down the pair.


	6. Decisions

**Phoenix of the West**

**Decisions**

**By Pat Squared

* * *

**

Li Ling did not utter a single sound.

Sedna looked on the remnants of her best friend. Li Ling would just follow her mutely. The few times Sedna found food, she had to feed Li Ling otherwise the food would remained untouched.

Sedna hated the Earth Kingdom. They were the enemy for generations, but now it became personal. They took her best friend and left behind a zombie. It was getting late and Sedna found an abandoned charcoal burner's hut. Inside were the remnants of a bed and a small hearth. However, there was no way to light a fire...not in the state Li Ling was in.

Sedna tried to remember how the people of her tribe started fires, but she lacked matches or even the flint and tinder required to do it the old way. Living with Li Ling, all Sedna did was have to ask the young fire bender to light the candle. Motioning Li Ling to stay put, Sedna went outside to find some left over charcoal. It would be sooty, but the too girls needed rest and warmth. They needed food also but there was no food to be had.

Sedna gathered enough charcoal to make a small fire and placed it in the hearth.

"Li Ling, if you can hear me. I need some fire right now."

Li Ling only shook her head.

"I promise that they won't hurt you anymore."

However, Li Ling closed her eyes and curled up into a ball.

_They took Li Ling away. They will pay for taking Li Ling away._

Looking at the cold hearth, Sedna admitted to defeat.

_What good was water bending?_

Sedna knew how to heal minor wounds, freeze water, launch an ice dagger, and do a pathetic water whip. However water bending could not make a fire. Water bending could not undo what was done to Li Ling.

Sedna remembered another custom from her frozen homeland in the Southern Water Tribes...sharing body heat. It had been years since she lived in the ice, but Sedna was no stranger to the cold. However, Li Ling spent all her life in the heat. She was already violently shivering.

Sedna led Li Ling to the bed. Li Ling laid there.

Sedna could feel Li Ling quiver in fear as she crawled next to Li Ling.

"They won't hurt you anymore...I promise you."

Sedna stayed still as Li Ling broke down. The nine year-old Fire Nation princess started crying.

Sedna did not know if this was better or worse than the quiet Li Ling. Sedna held her best friend trying to figure out what to do next.

* * *

Prince Kaminoyama Masato looked at the scroll.

The seal was intact. It was the Household Minister...the eunuch who ran the day to day operations of the palace complex.

"Thank you Sergeant Yamaguchi."

"My lord."

Masato broke the seal.

_Father is dead._

The last restraint on his plans was dealt with. Hiro's brother, Akira, performed his duty to the nation. The old man was strangled for not stepping aside.

Masato hated his father. His father was too conservative...loved decadence too much to ever be expected to reclaim the glory that was once the Earth Kingdom. He did not allow the military to even perform probes on their neighbors. He surrendered to the slut of a Fire Nation queen before seriously fighting a battle.

Now the last obstruction was dealt with.

Kaminoyama Masato was now king and would soon be an emperor.

* * *

Sedna awoke to find the fire lit and a blanket over her. Li Ling was asleep. There was soup cooking.

"You are finally awake. I keep on forgetting that not everyone wakes with the sun."

Sedna rolled over to see an old lady. She was skinny, with bones protruding at odd angles under her sagging skin. Her hair was long, stringy, and grey. She was wearing brown peasant clothes.

"Call me Li Mei Hua (Li's Plum Blossom). I gave your friend something to let her sleep. She will recover physically. However, it's you I need to talk to."

"What about?"

"Simple, the two of you are trapped here without a way back home. However, you are not without resources."

"Who are you?"

"Is that any way to greet a distant relative, Princess Sedna?"

"What do you mean?"

"Jian Li had four children by four different women. You are the descendent of Katara. Your friend is a descendent of Azula. I am a descendent of both Mai and Ty Lee. Like your friend, I am a fire bender even though I look more like the Chi's...my mother's side of the family."

Mei Hua pointed at the coals and summoned a small lick of flame to get the coals burning. Sedna relaxed a little bit. The Eastern Earth Kingdom hated fire benders.

"Prince Masato Kaminoyama and his thugs killed our kin. It's my duty to ensure that his occupation will be troublesome and to get intelligence to our allies. And to help you...The question is how."

Sedna did not trust the lady's words. Just because she was an fire bender, did not mean she had had another plan. Anyone with a passing knowledge of history knew that the Li's were related to just about every influential family in the West.

"I don't you to trust me instantly. Did you father teach you about the history never written down?"

Sedna found herself nodding.

"Jian Li, the Blue Spirit, was the first born child of Ursa and Ozai the Mad..."

Sedna finally relaxed. Only family knew of that secret. She had accidentally overheard it when her father told her older brother. Normally, one would not here it until they were older.

"His true name is Zuko."

"So your father did tell you."

Sedna found herself wondering why she did not see this lady before. She thought that she met all the Li's.

"I had _retired_ many years ago leaving my networks to my son to manage. However, he is now dead and my grandchildren are dead I hope...I know what they did to your friend. There is no bending or healing art that can ever restore her. All I can do is to give her a reason to live. It won't be a pretty reason to live...vengeance never is. She cannot return back home. Otherwise...she will end up taking her own life. You on the other hand have options."

"What options? I'm a water bender, but not even _Ason_ (divine princess) Katara can't part the oceans."

"I can smuggle you back to the Fire Nation with some of my reports. However, you will have to tell the world that Li Ling is dead. Or you can stay with her and give up your old life. You can set on the path that Jian Li set on generations ago. However, you will have to give up what was taken away from your friend and much more. You will have to decide."

There was only the sound of the flames cracking.

"I will stay."

"Child, I was afraid that you would say that. I will give you three days to think things over before I bind you to this course. Li Ling was forced by fate ...I did so out of duty...You have a choice. I vowed decades ago that no one would have to undergo the pain that we both did. I vowed to be the last of my kind. I don't want the darkening of your soul to burden mine."

Sedna looked at the old lady and the girl who needed her.

"A healer never leaves her patient until the gods have decided one way or the other. That is my final decision."

Tears were in the old lady's eyes.

"First thing is to forget everything you were. You are no longer Princess Sedna of the Southern Water Tribe.

"You are now Jia Tan-chun (Jia's Spring Pond) of the Red Chamber. Likewise, your friend is no longer Princess Li Ling of the Fire Nation. She shall be Su Xaio-Xiao (Su's Sorrow that rises in the morning) of the Red Chamber.

"You two were born into the Red Chamber. You expect that your daughters would follow you into the Red Chamber as you follow your mothers. You don't know your fathers and your mothers were of the Red Chamber. You two are paired courtesan-bodyguards, not cheap tavern wenches. That is the only way the two of you can travel freely in the lands of the East and get close enough to kill the man who is responsible for your friend's condition.

"Do you understand what you are giving up? Your future, husbands, every dream of happiness? Once I start your training, you will have less freedom than a brothel slave. A slave can blame her plight on slavery. You won't have that freedom for you will have chosen your own fate."

Sedna nodded.

Courtesans were unknown among the Water Tribes.

However, in the Fire Nation and Outcast Clan they were common.

In the Fire Nation, there were about eight women to five men.

In the Outcast Clan the female to male ratio was four to three.

Hence there was a surplus of unmarried females.

The educated women that did not held their households (Being the first wife), become aunties (2nd wives), or choose holy orders often went into the Red Chamber.

In the Water Tribes...that was unthinkable. There were more men than girls in the tribe and hence it was men who often left the Tribe to seek brides elsewhere. For a woman of the Water Tribes despite Katara's example, to surrender your virtue before marriage was unforgivable. Brides could be killed if their white wedding sheets were not stained red with their virginal offering.

Being the daughter of the Water Tribe's ambassador, Sedna had witnessed many things that other girls in her tribe would never be allowed to hear about. Every time she returned the land of her birth was becoming more foreign to her. Home was not home anymore. Sedna knew her thoughts were wrong...that she was a Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, third in the line of succession, and being groomed for an advantageous marriage with one of Li Ling's brothers. It was her duty to sell her body for politics, not coin. Either way...

Li Ling was the only friend she had. Li Ling taught her how to be bad and not to obey the rules. Li Ling taught her to be free and enjoy what was bad. Now Li Ling needed her. Besides what was there to return to. The men would mobilize for war and the women would sit at home waiting for the casualty reports so the long Antarctic night could punctuated by funerals.

Sedna made her decision.

"Do you have a piece of rag and some spare charcoal?"

"Why?"

"Because that way, you can truthfully say this is the last communication you received from Sedna of the Water Tribe. Better yet, get me a bowl, a brush, and a knife. I also will need a bowl of water."

The items were brought out. Sedna closed her eyes. She took the knife in her right hand and sliced her palm letting the blood drip into the bowl. Once there was more than enough blood, Sedna dipped her palm in the water and healed up the gash.

Using her blood, Sedna started writing on the rag in the ancient Water Tribe script.

* * *

_Father,_

_I don't know if or when you will get this. If you do, read this in alone and then destroy this...Don't let mom or my brothers see this._

_By the time you read these words, I will be no more._

_Eastern Earth Kingdom Price Masato came into the city in the middle of the night. The Chi's and Li's were killed. The men killed, the rest made slaves. For girls, slavery is worse than death. Death happens once and it's over. However, they repeatedly hurt all the girls they catch and soon you don't want to live anymore._

_Even princesses were not exempt. They plan to conquer the world. First they want to reclaim their so-called land. They want to turn water tribes into slaves. As for the Fire Nation, all will be killed because of the war._

_Even if I escape and returned home, I would never belong to the old world I once knew. I would never be able to marry after what happened. Instead Li Ling and I will escape the only way we can. There is a basement were they keep us. There is small pipe. Hopefully we can get out. After that, we will end the lives you gave us._

_Li Ling and Sedna will never be hurt again._

_Tell mom and my brothers that I will miss them, but I must go face the gods. This is the last act of being free. This is the one thing they cannot take from us. Promise me that that no one else will know why I had to choose this way._

_As for Li Ling, they hurt her so bad that she cannot write or bend again. However, if you can, tear off this portion and hand it to her mother._

_Li Ling wants me to write that she is sorry for not being a good girl and being sent out here. She does not want to be used as a token. Our cousins were hunted down and killed and those that lived now pray for death. They were going to send us back home as a living note and carve the declaration of war into our backs. Masato want nothing less than the death of all Fire Nation and all those with Fire Nation blood. This is a war to kill more than a war to take land._

_She sends her love and hopes her family would understand why things happened._

_One of the girls is tying to contact a member of the resistance. She is trying to escape. I am giving this letter to her. This is the longest letter I ever wrote. If we had time it would be longer, but we don't have anymore time._

_Sedna_

Pakku the Water Tribe ambassador looked at the scrap of rag in his hand. He knew it was his daughter's blood. He knew what was in his hands was a warning from the dead to the living.

He wanted to destroy this, but Sedna's warning...His daughter suffered so that she could warn the other nations of Masato's intentions. There were others that needed to read this, even if they would be finding out about the shame that caused the two girls to end their lives.

_Sedna was only ten. She has not even made her first moon sacrifice. Beasts..._

The Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation would not settle for anything less than the total destruction of the Eastern Earth Kingdom.

* * *

Su Xiao-Xiao nodded.

The once broken princess never shed another tear since that first night in the hut. Nor did she smile. She had long since stopped thinking of herself as Li Ling...It was easier that way.

Mei-Hua, the mistress, gave them a mission. Ambush an officer-courier and bring the prisoner back alive for interrogation.

The ambush was simple. Suspend a rope just high enough to pole axe the unlucky courier as he rode on his ostrich-horse. Xiao-Xiao then tossed a bucket of water on the courier which Jia Hua Chun water bended into restraints. Xiao-Xiao recognized the face of the courier from the memories of Li Ling. It was one of the men who hurt her. The old Li Ling would have gone nuts. Xiao-Xiao instead waited patiently, calmly.

The mistress taught the pair that silence is one of the more effective interrogation tools...that torture is more mental than physical.

Besides, this one would be needed for human anatomy lessons after the interrogation. If Xiao-Xiao damaged this one...she would have to dig up another corpse. She was not an earth bender who enjoyed digging around in the dirt. Grave robbing had a code and rule one was use a wooden shovel. Wood sounded different than metal would upon impact with a coffin.

The unlucky courier would not be the first corpse the pair had to dissect under the mistress's watchful eyes. All knowledge was two sided. Those that knew how to save live by cutting into the body also knew how to take it slowly. Mistress called it reverse design. Like a builder of the bridge knew just which timbers and pins held a bridge together, a surgeon knew just which body parts were necessary to hang unto life.

The two girls looked at one another. The prisoner was watching the two girls. Normally the girls would still be of an age where they would be playing with dolls. However the look in the eye of the light skin girl told the courier that he was the doll and the girl was the type to break toys.


End file.
